A Window to the Past: An Artistic Reconstruction of Miocene Tennessee by Samantha Diane Addis A thesis presented to the Honors College of Middle Tennessee State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the University Honors College Spring 2018 A Window to the Past: An Artistic Reconstruction of Miocene Tennessee by Samantha Diane Addis APPROVED: ____________________________ Dr. Melissa K. Lobegeier Associate Professor, Geosciences ____________________________ Dr. Warner Cribb Department Chair, Geosciences ____________________________ Dr. Tammy Melton Professor, Chemistry ____________________________ Dr. John Vile Dean, University Honors College ii Acknowledgements I extend my sincerest gratitude to my faculty advisors, Dr. Melissa Lobegeier and Dr. Tammy Melton, whose guidance and encouragement truly made this project possible. My thanks also go out to the researchers and staff at ETSU and the Gray Fossil Site and Museum, Dr. Chris Liu, Dr. Steven Wallace, Dr. Chris Widga, and April Nye for taking the time to answer my many questions, giving me painting feedback, and providing access to multiple papers and resources that proved invaluable to my project. I would also like to thank the faculty and staff of the MTSU Department of Geosciences for their incredible support throughout this project and my entire undergraduate career these past four years. Finally, my sincerest thanks go out to my friends and family for their reassurance, constructive critiques, and endless kind words. iii Abstract Paleoart is the reconstruction of landscapes and organisms from Earth’s prehistoric past. It is an essential part of educating the public of paleontological discoveries, and can serve to raise awareness and cultivate interest in the geological sciences. In this project, the environment and species of plants and animals present in Tennessee during the Miocene, a period of time spanning from 23 to 5 million years ago, were studied. Fossil remains and observations of extant species were combined to recreate the plants and animals of the time. These recreations were then used to create a scene of a riparian forest, which was painted digitally utilizing Adobe Photoshop Elements and printed on canvas. iv Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................................................................. vii I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 1 II. THE GRAY FOSSIL SITE...................................................................................... 5 III. THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF MIOCENE TENNESSEE................................. 7 FLORA.................................................................................................................. 9 Trees............................................................................................................... 10 Oak (Quercus sp.)..................................................................................... 10 Hickory (Carya tennesseensis)................................................................. 12 Katsura (Cercidiphyllites minimireticulatus) (Cercidiphyllum sp.)......... 14 Birch (Trivestibulopollenites betuloides) (Betula sp.).............................. 16 Shrubs and Other Small Plants................................................................... 18 Bladdernut (Staphylea levisemia)............................................................. 18 Grapevine (Vitis lanatoides)..................................................................... 20 Polypod Fern (Laevigatosporites sp.) (Polypodium sp.).......................... 21 FAUNA................................................................................................................ 22 Barn Owl (Tyto sp.).................................................................................. 23 Bristol’s Appalachian Panda (Pristinailurus bristoli).............................. 24 Dwarf Tapir (Tapirus polkensis)............................................................... 26 Short-Faced Bear (Plionarctos sp.)........................................................... 28 v IV. COMPOSITION..................................................................................................... 31 V. CREATING THE FINAL PAINTING................................................................. 33 VI. ANALYSIS.............................................................................................................. 39 VII. REFERENCES...................................................................................................... 41 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Location of the Miocene in the geologic time scale........................................... 5 Figure 2: Oak (Quercus sp.) leaf fossils, photographed at Gray Fossil Site museum..... 10 Figure 3: Detail study of bark, leaves, and acorns, and growth habit study................... 12 Figure 4: Detail sketch of Carya sp. displaying common features of hickory species.... 14 Figure 5: Leaf and bark detail and growth habit study of Cercidiphyllum..................... 16 Figure 6: Growth habit and bark and leaf detail of Betula lenta.................................... 18 Figure 7: Detail of Staphylea, including leaves, flowers, and growth habits at various levels of maturity.............................................................................................. 20 Figure 8: Detail sketch of V. lanata................................................................................. 21 Figure 9: Leaf and growth habit sketch of Polypodium appalachianum......................... 22 Figure 10: Tyto sp. profile, face, and inner and outer wing color sketch........................ 23 Figure 11: Skeleton and body outline sketch of P. bristoli.............................................. 24 Figure 12: Color tests for Pristinailurus bristoli............................................................. 26 Figure 13: Skeleton and body outline sketch of T. polkensis........................................... 27 Figure 14: Juvenile and adult coloration sketches of T. polkensis.................................. 28 Figure 15: Skeletal reconstruction sketch of Plionarctos................................................ 29 Figure 16: Color tests for Plionarctos............................................................................. 30 Figure 17: Initial composition sketch (left) and shaded version (right).......................... 32 Figure 18: Second composition sketch (left) and the same sketch shaded (right)........... 32 Figure 19: Third composition sketch (top left), minor tree placement edits to create balance (top right), and color test (bottom)........................................ 33 vii Figure 20: Process of painting Quercus sp. (oak tree), showing application of texture to initial shadow and highlight figure (left) and final bark texture (right)................................................................................................. 35 Figure 21: Oak brush (left, black shape) and example of its usage (right)..................... 36 Figure 22: Progression of steps in painting Plionarctos, including polished sketch (top left), base color and beginning of highlights (top right), completion of majority of painting (bottom left), and final lighting and detail (bottom right)................................................................................ 37 Figure 23: Work in progress detail of Plionarctos’s nose and muzzle........................... 38 viii INTRODUCTION The night is quiet aside from the unending murmur of rain. A convoy of jeeps sit motionless, their fluorescent green flanks a jarring contrast to the mud that pools around their tires. The camera pans to cup of water on one of their dashboards, where rhythmic ripples portend the approach of something enormous. Within moments it becomes apparent to whom those footfalls belong, as the metallic twang of snapping cables gives way to telltale roar of a monster that would haunt the nightmares of kids – and parents alike – for years. Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Jurassic Park would go on to become one of the most iconic films in American sci-fi cinema. Although Michael Crichton’s novels as a rule need no help in building suspense or driving home their unnerving plausibility, the visceral horror lent to his story by the masterful use of animatronics and CGI in Spielberg’s films is undeniable. So successful, in fact, were those reconstructions of extinct creatures, that entire generations now picture Spielberg’s gaunt, draconic T. rex whenever the subject of dinosaurs is broached. In the public consciousness, dinosaurs remain scaly, cold-blooded reptiles. However, researchers continue to discover evidence to the contrary. The astounding discovery of the fossilized Archaeopteryx painted a picture to the world of an extensively feathered, birdlike dinosaur. But Archaeopteryx was miniscule compared to the likes of dinosaurs that dominate popular culture. Its small size made it easy to picture as something that could be soft and feathered. It is harder to imagine, however, something as big as T. rex being covered in a layer of fluff. Except, we’ve discovered almost exactly that. Dubbed Yutyrannus huali, the fossil find revealed a massive, carnivorous, tyrannosaur-like dinosaur with “long filamentous feathers, [a discovery which provides] direct evidence for the presence of extensively feathered gigantic dinosaurs” (Cheng et al., 2012). Even